Tanja Morgan of Waynesboro decided to dump her cable service after a steep bill last year.

A visit to her friends in Florida, who were streaming content from the Internet to a TV screen, helped push her over the edge and cut the cord on cable television — the river of hundreds of channels and thousands of shows delivered at a high cost to her home.

Instead, Morgan decided to pick and choose — to build her own solution, based on what she likes to watch.

"It helped that I can get high speed Internet at my house," she said. "After I found out from (my friends) how it works and the cost, it was a no-brainer for me. I can still get all the shows I like to watch."

Morgan is saving almost $700 a year now that she has a Roku box and subscribes to HuluPlus.

About half of all U.S. adults, and 67 percent of those younger than 35, watch streaming or downloaded video during a typical week, according to a study by Experian Marketing Services, an information and data organization. And that was in 2013. The numbers are climbing since then, by all accounts.

Young adults are the major component of the cord-cutter population, some of whom will never pay for cable or satellite, according to the study.

Services like Netflix and Hulu, plus the ease of streaming a computer's content to a large screen, have been driving the changes.

Amazon Fire TV Stick(Photo: File)

In Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County, there are more and more ways to cut the cord. Younger people in general tend to do it more often. But if you're part of the TV set generation, harkening back even to the days before cable and before remote controls, it doesn't have to be a daunting conversion:

There are multiple ways to stream to your TV. Some techniques include one-time purchases of streaming devices, like the ones listed below:

•Chromecast — $35

•Roku — starting at $49.99

•Amazon Fire Stick — $39

•Apple TV — $69 as of March 9

Other devices like Blu-Ray players with wireless Internet capability, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and other consoles, can also stream shows or movies.

With the initial device purchasing price, the consumer must also subscribe to a service to stream shows from Netflix or HuluPlus — monthly fees for each of them starts at $7.

And HBO Now, the video-streaming service of the popular premium cable network, will become available through Apple TV for $14.99 a month on Apple devices.

Ditching cable in Staunton

Curtis Stilley Jr. of Staunton cancelled cable last year to save money. He uses a Chromecast to stream things from his Chrome Web browser and uses a Blu-Ray player to stream Netflix.

"I listen to more NPR on the radio or stream podcasts through my iPhone now for background noise," he said.

Kate Pierce uses her cellphone as a hotspot in order to stream content to her TV.

“I've been cable-free for 21/2 years now, and I don't really miss it.”

Kayla Payne of Staunton

By subscribing to nTelos and having three phones between Pierce and her partner, she's saving up to $165 a month. Pierce cut the cord in 2009 and has a tethering service, in addition to her cellular plan, through nTelos that allows her cellular device to act as a wireless connection.

Erin Meadows was also faced with a decision if she would get a subscription to DIRECTV two years ago when she moved and purchased a home. With new bills of owning a home, she decided to purchase an antenna and supplement with Hulu and Netflix.

"Two years down the road, I have not regretted my decision of not signing up with a cable provider," she said. "I am happy about not giving the big box cable providers my money to have a couple additional channels more than I currently get for free through the inexpensive digital antenna and Internet."

Never had it, don't miss it

Others in the area did away with cable years ago or never had it.

Kayla Payne of Staunton used to have her cable included in her rent when she went to college in Harrisonburg at James Madison University. At that time, she and her roommate had split the cost of Netflix and HuluPlus and continue that agreement to this day, sharing the two streaming services.

Since moving to Staunton two years ago, she has been cable-free. "I've been cable-free for 21/2 years now, and I don't really miss it." She said that she checks out DVDs at the library, too.

Frank Fenneran of Riverheads used to have an antenna 16 years ago, then his dog ate through the cord and he never replaced it. "It was a lazy act to begin with, but then we realized how much more time we had and how much more family time was available," he said.

Growing up in the era of television shows in the 1960s and 1970s, he now owns DVDs of shows like Gilligan's Island, Perry Mason and Hogans Heroes. "Good wholesome shows from that era," he said.

On the other hand

Area cable and satellite providers say they haven't seen a difference in customer numbers.

Comcast said it hasn't seen a decrease in subscribers. It's the exact opposite.

Their third quarter last year was the best Q3 in seven years for video, the company said.

Linear digital video recording and video-on-demand streaming content also is at an all-time high, according to Comcast.

DIRECTV spokesman Robert Mercer said there has been no impact to the business because of the increase in online streaming. "Our base is mainly composed of high-quality customers who want a premium video experience ... and (can watch) their favorite programs whenever and wherever they are," he said. "To combat cord-cutting, we continue to evolve our business along with the customer's needs."

Let's be honest about one thing. If you're a sports fan, it's dang hard to leave the TV companies behind.

Cable providers and sports league do offer some games live through their Web sites, without needing a TV. But those offerings largely require you to enter information proving you pay a cable company monthly for its service.

Some leagues, like the NFL, offer replays of games online (not live) for a fee.